In the present study, we examined the relationships between adult identity, strength of identity commitments, and their potential determinants: number of adult social roles undertaken and psychosocial maturity. A total of 358 emerging adults aged 18 to 30 participated. Structural equation modelling analyses indicated that psychosocial maturity dimensions served as intervening variables between adult roles on the one hand and adult identity and identity commitments on the other. The results suggest that vocational and familial adult roles can be related to different aspects of psychosocial maturity. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Past approaches to ideological commemorative street naming have taken for granted the concept of ideology, focusing on the policy decisions and the debates surrounding individual and more concerted resemioticisations. In this paper, we demonstrate that the concept of ideology in the context of commemorative street renaming is by no means unequivocal by illustrating how different decisions on what is or is not an ideological street name change influences the shape and the scope of ‘the ideological robe of the city’ (Zieliński, 1994). More specifically, we report on methodological decisions and their implications for representational politics in two towns, Zbąszyń in Poland and Annaberg-Buchholz in Germany, during consecutive waves of regime changes since the First World War. We rely on a complex data-set consisting of maps, town hall documents, street directories, newspapers and interviews with administrative officials. Visualisation of geographical patterns allows us to illustrate the outcomes of different definitions of ideology and explore how these definitions affect our analysis. Our primary aim is to arrive at systematic, and thus supra-locally operationalizable, analytical procedure for distinguishing ideological from non-ideological street naming practices.

The main aim of the study was to identify differences pertaining to sense of adulthood, exploration, and commitment dimensions between groups of subjects differing in respect of the number of fulfilled adulthood roles and the level of psychosocial maturity. participants and procedureParticipants were 358 individuals aged 18 to 30. Four groups of individuals with different adulthood statuses were designated: (1) immature non-adults (low psychosocial maturity, a small number of adult roles), (2) immature adults (low psychosocial maturity, a large number of adult roles), (3) mature non-adults (high psychosocial maturity, a small number of adult roles), (4) mature adults (high psychosocial maturity, a large number of adult roles). resultsIn the two groups characterized by a high level of psychosocial maturity, sense of adulthood proved to be higher than in the other two groups. Immature adults manifested more visible signs of identity crisis than mature adults, and the pattern of the results in the former group was similar to that observed in the group of immature non-adults and mature non-adults. conclusionsThe studies offer an insight into the relationship between identity of individuals entering adulthood, and social and personal determinants of its formation. The simultaneous analysis of selected psychological and contextual conditionings of identity formation enabled us to obtain valuable results that allow us to formulate the conclusion that both of the spheres mentioned above are important for identity development, and that the most favorable option for identity formation in different areas of young adults' functioning is the joint development of both psychosocial maturity and adult roles. key words commitment; exploration; psychosocial maturity; sense of adulthood; social roles of adulthood; status of adulthood

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The process of adolescence, including identity formation, differs significantly from what it was in previous generations. This is a consequence, among other things, of the demographic and economic changes that have taken place in recent years, locally as well as globally. This introduction is devoted to a review of these problems, and the current issue comprises texts addressing selected questions in detail. Some scholars identify groups of young people characterized by a tendency to consciously avoid making commitments typical of adults. However, research results point to the positive impact of taking on adult roles on perceiving oneself as an adult. The person’s identity develops from childhood, encompassing various domains. During the transition from childhood to adolescence, the increase in self-awareness is accompanied by an intensification of seeking information about oneself and one’s own functioning and of making plans for the future. The stage of adulthood involves the verification of previously made choices by resuming exploratory activities, whose intensity is in proportion to the amount of significant changes in the individual’s environment.

Departing from the model suggested by Luyckx, Schwarz, Berzonsky et al. (2008), the relationships between identity and educational context, social participation, and identity information processing style were investigated. Participants were 972 students from six vocational schools in Poznań. The students, within these six schools, attended Grades I-III of three types of vocational schools: basic vocational schools (n=271), technical upper secondary schools (n=448), and specialized upper secondary schools (n=253). Three questionnaires were used: The Dimensions of Identity Development Scale (DIDS/PL), which measures five identity dimensions according to the concept of Luyckx, Schwarz, Berzonsky et al. (2008), Social Participation Questionnaire, developed by Brzezińska, Rękosiewicz and Hejmanowski (see Rękosiewicz, 2013b), enabling identification of the type of social participation, and the Polish adaptation of M. Berzonsky’s Identity Style Inventory 4 (ISI-4) authored by A. Senejko (2010), to examine identity styles. The results showed that the students from basic vocational schools and technical upper secondary schools were more often characterized by the normative identity style, whereas the students from specialized upper secondary schools manifested a greater tendency to engage themselves in exploration, both adaptive and ruminative.

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